Low-budget film company makes 'Nudist Colony of the Dead'

May 31, 1991|By McClatchy News Service

SACRAMENTO -- The rolling hills of South Dakota gave birth to "Dances With Wolves." The streets of San Francisco were home to "Dirty Harry." And the gritty world of the Bronx gave life to "The Bonfire of the Vanities."

Only Sacramento, the undisputed shallow-grave capital of the world, could offer us a low-budget horror flick called "Nudist Colony of the Dead."

The plot? Suffice to say that religious fanatics force the closure of the "In the Buff" clothing-optional camp, prompting the nudists there to engage in a bit of ritualistic mass suicide. Years later, when church teen-agers return to the camp for a retreat, the nudists come back to life to exact their revenge.

Early publicity promises: "They'll eat you bare -- naked!"

This bit of film art is spewing out of Artistic License Inc., a small film production company run by Frank Coccaro and Tom Naygrow.

The walls of Coccaro's small office show the fruits of their labors: glossy posters advertising Artistic License film classics such as "Kinetic Nightmare" ("In your dreams, no one hears you scream"), "Death by Love" ("A twisted tale of deadly desire!") and "Dark Harvest" ("Death reaps what you sow").

None of the films has made what you call a lot of money, yet. But none of them cost a lot either. Artistic License is making movies for under $50,000 each.